Friday

BEDFORD, Pa. — Driving a uniquely wrapped, green-and-white car themed to his popular nickname, Chub Frank emerged victorious in the first World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Bedford Speedway.
Frank’s triumph in the Bedford 50 came in his first appearance with the Chubzilla machine since its ballyhooed debut two weeks earlier in the UMP DIRTcar Racing-sanctioned World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio — a weekend that was a smashing success for Frank on the merchandising side, but a disappointing failure on the racing end.
“Tonight was a lot better than the World,” understated Frank, smiling broadly after earning $10,225 for his WoO LMS-leading sixth victory of 2007. “The World wasn’t a good deal, so we decided we’d run this body again closer to home and see if we could come up with some better results.”
Frank, 45, accomplished his competitive goal — and sold a few more T-shirts in the process. He moved up from the third starting spot to inherit the lead on lap 16 when Bo Feathers retired with mechanical trouble. He outran Jeremy Miller the remainder of the distance.
A run-in with a lapped car gave Frank a scare with just three laps left, but Miller couldn’t take advantage of Frank’s momentary loss of momentum.
Miller settled for second in the Buckler Motorsports Rocket, about six car lengths behind Frank at the checkered flag. Leading WoO LMS Rookie of the Year contender Tim Fuller advanced from the ninth starting spot to finish third. Clint Smith and Rick Eckert rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Chub Frank, Jeremy Miller, Tim Fuller, Clint Smith, Rick Eckert, Darrell Lanigan, Steve Francis, Josh Richards, Shane Clanton, Jack Pencil, Chris Harr, Gary Stuhler, Scott Rhodes, D.J. Myers, Jeff Rine, Wayne Johnson, Donnie Lingo, Jr., Ricky Elliott, Jeff Miller, Greg Fetters, Donnie Moran, Dave Troutman, Bo Feathers, Roy Mitchell, Brian Shirley, D.J. Troutman.

Saturday

IMPERIAL, Pa. — Complete, utter dominance.
That’s the only way to describe Josh Richards’s performance on Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
The 19-year-old sensation was in a league of his own, running away with a flag-to-flag victory in the half-mile oval’s 19th annual Pittsburgher 50.
“That car was awesome,” Richards said of father Mark’s Rocket Chassis house car. “It was like a video game out there. If I wanted to I could run harder, or I could just cruise for awhile. Whatever I wanted the car to do, it did without a problem.
“It’s hard to get a car that good very often.”
Richards, who started from the pole position, was never seriously challenged. He pulled away from the pack with ease after each of the race’s four caution flags, extending his lead by at least two-tenths of a second per lap.
In action at the track, where he ran the third feature event of his career in 2004, Richards became the youngest winner in the history of PPMS’s Pittsburgher spectacular. He earned $10,225 for his fourth WoO LMS triumph of the season.
WoO LMS rookie of the year contender Brian Shirley finished second, 3.4 seconds behind.
Point-leader Steve Francis was third, followed by Darrell Lanigan and Bart Hartman.
The finish:
Josh Richards, Brian Shirley, Steve Francis, Darrell Lanigan, Bart Hartman, Chub Frank, Brian Birkhofer, Tim Hitt, Keith Barbara, Jared Miley, Clint Smith, Rick Eckert, Gregg Satterlee, Jackie Boggs, Dutch Davies, Al Atallah, Brandon Burgoon, Steve Casebolt, Jeremy Miller, Lynn Geisler, Dan Stone, Shane Clanton, Davey Johnson, Roy Mitchell, Dave Wade, Donnie Moran.